Insurance company challenges Deutsche Telekom’s ‘monopoly’ over colour pink
An insurance company is trying to invalidate T-Mobile’s parent company’s claim to exclusive rights over the colour pink.
In an announcement yesterday, November 4, Lemonade said it was taking Deutsche Telekom to court, after it claimed Lemonade’s use of pink infringed its rights over the colour.
“Following Lemonade’s June 2019 launch in Germany, Deutsche Telekom demanded Lemonade abandon its use of pink entirely,” the announcement said.
Deutsche Telekom currently owns eight European trademarks for different shades of pink.
Daniel Schreiber, CEO and co-founder of Lemonade said Deutsche Telekom’s “actions just smack of corporate bully tactics, where legions of lawyers attempt to hog natural resources—in this case a primary colour—that rightfully belongs to everyone”.
Lemonade said Deutsche Telekom has obtained a preliminary injunction instructing Lemonade to remove the colour from all of its German assets, but that the proceedings were ex parte, “meaning that Lemonade has not yet had its day in court”.
Suggesting that the injunction would not be upheld, Lemonade said an earlier “magenta injunction” against Swedish telecommunications company Telia, was overturned by a Danish court, and Deutsche Telekom was made to pay costs when it lost at trial.
“When it comes to insurance, probably no brand in the world is more closely connected with the colour pink than Lemonade. Deutsche Telekom, in contrast, is not even licensed to conduct business in this regulated industry—so the two companies are not competitive in any way,” Lemonade said.
“In the German telecommunications industry, Deutsche Telekom is associated with a particular shade of pink it calls ‘magenta’, though for years it has tried to take a wide range of pinks away from businesses across multiple industries and countries,”
“Think about it: your printer has but 3 colours - cyan, yellow and magenta,” Schreiber said.
He continued: “The idea that Deutsche Telekom owns magenta in all its variations, across industries and countries, seems like a proposition worth challenging. We’re not sure how this will end, but we’ll try to have some fun along the way. As Miley Cyrus said, ‘pink isn’t just a colour, it’s an attitude.’”
While Lemonade has temporarily made the colour changes ordered in Germany, it has refused to sign an agreement with Deutsche Telekom.
Shai Wininger, COO and co-founder of Lemonade, said Deutsche Telekom had tried to use the injunctions to “strong-arm” the insurance company into signing away its rights to use the colour pink anywhere in the world.
“We thought Deutsche Telekom couldn’t be serious: monopolising all the pink in the world sounds like something a cartoon villain would do in a Disney epic,” he said.
WIPR has approached Deutsche Telekom for comment.
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